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One of my favorite gastronomic delights is whipped cream. I mean, real whipped cream. I’m talking about the transformation of heavy (or whipping) cream into whipped cream that goes so well with an infinite variety of desserts—ice cream, cake, puddings, crêpes, etc. These are dishes that one can find just about everywhere in Europe and, perhaps, elsewhere as well. Isn’t that true for America as well? Almost everyone in this country likes whipped cream a lot but, sad to say, the real stuff is not a staple of restaurants and ice cream establishments. One gets, instead, fake whipped cream. Yes- I’ll say it again! It’s phony. Not real. Chemistry has intervened to place a whipped cream substitute in cans that looks good on desserts but which doesn’t taste like the real thing. One spoonful will reveal that we are tasting something that’s been air-driven from a can and which compares poorly with the real thing. Cool Whip is pretty good; it almost tastes like whipped cream but it’s still a product of food scientists that have striven to produce a product that can be packaged for an indefinite period of time and sold until its expiration date. It has some shelf life and will certainly last longer than the real thing but, is still a poor substitute.  What bothers me the most, though, is that many Americans have gotten so used to this chemical product with an indefinite shelf life that they can’t tell the difference between it and the real thing. Chances are they may never have had the real thing. After all, it’s so much easier to take a whipped cream bomb out of the fridge and spray it on the desired target than to get a hand beater or electric mixer to prepare the cream in 3-4 minutes while adding sugar and, perhaps, some vanilla.  So who cares?  Who’ll even know the difference?! Well I care! I’ll know the difference and I’ll make my usual comments to my fellow diners. I’ll also patronize those few institutions that do serve the real thing. In my home town of Amherst, Massachusetts, Bart’s Ice Cream does prepare sundaes with real whipped cream and their sundaes are delicious. Outstanding! And their steady stream of customers bears witness to the appreciation of their products. Bart’s is certainly not alone; there must be many emporia of desserts that produce and sell real whipped cream; I just don’t know them all but would certainly sing their praises if I but knew. In all fairness, though, real whipped cream in bombs does exist. I remember as a kid buying ice cream sundaes at a “candy store” in the Bronx that served the real thing from a bomb. The store owner, himself, filled this dispenser with whipping cream and, with the aid of some CO² capsule or device, was able to produce a spray of the real thing. And I’m sure that many others did exactly the same thing before the invention of this commercially successful hut tasteless whipped cream substitute. This invention has done a serious disservice to the promotion and appreciation of authentic food. I think it’s time for the American people to focus on this topic of whipped cream for their own pleasure and satisfaction and, most importantly, for upholding the truth and authenticity of the real thing. Say “no!” to phoniness in food. Let the food scientists mess with other ersatz contributions to the food chain—but, damn it, don’t mess with whipped cream. Amherst, Mass, December 28, 2008